Packing machinery



Dec. 5, 1933. J. w. cHALMERs PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet l //TR 35%@ @Wmv Dec. 5, 1933. .1. w. CHALMERS PACKINGMACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 5, 1933. J. w.cHALMERs PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENwww Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,938,482 PACKINGMACHINERY Application VJuly 5, 1932, Serial No. 620,925, and in GermanyAugust 6, 1931 7 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for packing block shaped articles,for example, batches of cigarettes, and refers more particularly to animproved machine for producing automatically a packet having a flexibleouter covering reinforced by an internal strip of rigid material andfilling the same with cigarettes.

It has previously been proposed to produce such a cigarette packet byfolding the strip of rigid material about the cigarettes, and afterwardsfolding a wrapper about the batch of cigarettes and the strip andsealing the same, but this method is open to the objection that the heatrequired. for drying the gum which secures the long side folds ofthepacket is liable to spoil the flavour of the cigarettes.

According to the present invention the outer wrapper is rst formed upinto a U shaped block ended packet openat one end, the side folds beingsealed during the process of manufacture and a batch of cigarettesembraced by a reinforcing strip as afterwardsY thrust yinto the openpacket which is then folded down and sealed in the usual manner.

The sealing of the closure aps does not require such prolonged heattreatment as is the case with the side flaps-and therefore the heat doesnot affect the flavour of the cigarettes to any appreciable amount.

The invention consists of a packing machine which comprisesrincombination means (for example an endless conveyor) operable'automatically to` move a block shaped article or batch of articles alongthe bed of the machine, means for l feeding and locating automatically astrip of rigid material (for example, cardboard)` transversely to thepath of said article, means oper-f ableto fold said strip around threesides of said article, means for inserting the article, together withthe folded strip, into a U shaped block ended packet, and means forfolding the open end of the packet together with the projecting stripand sealing the same. Y

The invention will be more particularly described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 shows an elevation of a machine constructed according to theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a. plan of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa section of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1 to alarger scale.

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 2, taken inthe direction of the arrow 4. f

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan of a detail of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one kind of packet showing the manner inwhich the closingof the' same is effected.

Fig. 'Tis a similar view showing the next stage in the operations afterFig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a finished packet.

Referring to the drawings, a packet forming mechanism is mounted on aframe 1 and comprises a reciprocating plunger 2 upon which a U shapedblock ended packet is formed. 35

The plunger 2 is guided by rollers 3 and revciprocated between paralleljaws 5. and 6 by a connecting rod (not shown) arranged at the back ofthe machine. The connecting rod is driven from a crank pin attached tothe fly wheel '7.

The packet blanks which consist of rectangular sheets of paper arestacked in a magazine 8 and the blanks are removed singly from thebottom of the pile by an oscillating sucker 9 which pulls the front edgeof the blank on to the continuously rotating roller 10.

In the present case the blanks have a slit 8 at each end parallel to onelong side thereof of a length equal approximately to the thickness ofthe finished packet and distant from the edge by a similar amount. Theseslits may be seen in the plan view of the magazine in Fig. 2.

An oscillating pusher roller 11 then moves into contact with the uppersurface of the sheet so that the latter is drawn out of the magazine bythe rotation of the two rollers and fed through another pair ofcontinuously rotating feed roll- 81's 12. p v 90 Twov gum rollers aremounted on the same spindle as the upper feed roller 12 and receive gumfrom gum pots 13 and apply a streak of gum at each side of the packetblank.

The sucker 9 and roller 11 are operated by a rod 14 which isreciprocated. by a cam on' the crank shaft l5 of the machine.

The blank is finally fed forward by two further rollers 16 so that itlies on a guide 17 and is located in position beneath the plunger by astop (not shown) .v The plunger then descends and carries the blank downbetween the jaws so that it is first formed into a U shape and continuedmovement carries the blank down so that the sides come into contact withfolders 22 of the usual spiral shape.

The narrow bottom tuck 18 and the inner side fiap 19, Fig. 6, are formedby an oscillating folder 20 immediately before the outer flap 21 is bentdown by the folder 22, the inner side 110 on the crank shaft.

flap being preferably folded first, so that the inside of the packet isfree from any obstructions such as would be offered by the bottom tuck18 if the latter were folded first. This construction enables thecigarettes surrounded by the strip to be easily inserted in the packetas described later, and also permits the consumer to Withdraw thecigarettes by the strip and then thrust it back again as explained inmore detail in the prior patent to Molins No. 1,784,701, grantedDecember 9, 1930.

The open packets descend into a heater box 23 and are ejected therefromby a plate 24 operated by the lever 25 from a cam (not shown) Thepackets pass along the heater box 23 in contact with one another andduring this movement the gum on the packets is dried and the packetseventually fall over into a magazine 26 so that they lie in asuperimposed pile on the bed 27 of the portion of the machine on whichthe packets are filled with cigarettes.

The cigarettes are fed from a hopper 28 which is furnished in the usualmanner with a series of slots in its base formed by vanes 28a down whichthe cigarettes pass and rest on the bed 27. A series of pusher pieces 29carried on a continuously moving chain conveyor 29a remove a row ofcigarettes at a time from the slots and carry them along between guides30.

The cardboard strip is fed from a reel 81 which is of a Width equal tothe total length of the strip. The web of cardboard is drawn downwardlyby rollers 32 and 33 which are provided f, with creasing devices 34 inthe form of ribs and grooves on the rollers, see Fig. 2, which creasethe cardboard on the lines at which folding is to take place, and thecreased web eventually passes into a cutting mechanism comprising arotary cutter 35 which co-operates with a fixed cutter 35B.

As each strip of cardboard issevered from the web it falls down theguides 36 and lies in the path of a batch of cigarettes carried by oneof the pushers 29. The cigarettes press the cardboard through the guides30 and form the strip into a kind of U shaped member. The web ofcardboard is preferably so arranged that the U shaped member has onelimb considerably longer than the other, the difference in length beingequal to the width of the packet plus, say, three millimetres.

The batches of cigarettes embraced by the U shaped cardboard strip isnext carried by the pusher piece through a mouthpiece 37 which ispreferably reciprocated by the levers 38 to cause the same to enter intothe mouth of the lswerin packet lying on the bed 27. The packet is heldin position by a spring stop 39 which resists movement sufliciently toenable the mouthpiece to enter into the packet. As the mouthpieceenters, the blades are expanded in a known manner and the batch ofcigarettes, together with the cardboard strip is carried into the packetand immediately the strip touches the bottom of the packet the pressureof the pusher piece lifts the spring stop 39 and the filled packet iscarried out of the magazine 26.

The pusher piece disappears beneath the bed as the conveyor chain turnsaround the wheel 40, but in the meantime, the packet has been pushedbetween two rapidly rotating rollers 41 which give it suicient velocityto cause it to move across on to the closing mechanism 42 where it isbrought to rest by a guide 42.

The closing mechanism which is shown to a slightly larger scale in Fig.4 consists of a continuously moving chain conveyor 43, furnished with aseries of pusher pieces 44 each of which carries a filled packet in adirection at right angles to its previous movement.

The mouth of the packet first contacts with a tucker bar 45, Figs. 2, 5and 6 which closes down the leading narrow fold 46, Fig. 7, togetherwith the extending portion of the cardboard frame 47. An instant beforethe extending portion of the frame 47 is completely folded on to the topof the cigarettes an oscillating tucker 48 moves inA from the rear ofthe packet and folds down the other narrow fold of the packet so thatthe same is held in position by the cardboard strip. The tucker 48 isoperated by a cam 49 and spring 50, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The packet next passes by a spiral folder 51 which folds up the lowerbroad flap 52 and immediately afterwards a streak of gum is applied tothe upper broad flap 53 by a gum roller 53 receiving gum from a bath 55.

The upper broad flap 53 is folded down by a spiral folder 56 and thepacket then passes by a heater rail (not shown) where the gum on theclosure flap is dried and the finished packets, Fig. 8, are ejected fromthe machine in any desired manner, or if necessary, fed to a furthermachine, for example, a Banderoling machine.

It will be understood that the strip could, if necessary, be fedhorizontally from a narrow reel corresponding in width to the width ofthe narrow panels, but the broad reel as previously described is moreconvenient and economical.

'Ihe packet described in the description of the machine is a particularform of packet which can be easily opened by the protruding strip shownin Fig. 8, after which the reinforcing frame may be pulled' up to assistin removing some of the cigarettes and then be thrust ldown again. Forthis purpose the bottom folds of the block ended packet are formed inthe manner described to avoid any internal projections, Whilst theclosure fold adjacent to the projecting portion of the strip is disposedat-right angles to the strip by reason of thev slitting of the blank,hereinbefore referred to, to facilitate the tearing of the closureflaps, but although the invention has been described with reference to aspecial kind of packet, lit will be appreciated that the cardboard stripmay be so arranged that the ends thereof lie in the middle of theclosure end of the packet. Y

-The slits in the blank may be dispensed with and both narrow tucks maybe made as shown on 46, Fig. 7. The minor adjustments necessary to thetucking mechanism will be apparent to any persons skilled in the art.

WhatI claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentisz- 1. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with meansfor forming a U shaped block ended packet having side folds and an openend, of means for sealing the side folds of the packet, means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three sides of abatch of cigarettes and thereafter feeding the batch through apredetermined path, means' for conveying the partially sealed packettransversely of and into the path of movement of the batch for receivingthe batch and strip therein.

2. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides ofa batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such length as to extendbeyond the third side of the batch, of means for inserting'the batch andpartially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block endedpacket with the extended portion of the strip protruding from thepacket, and means for forming a narrow end fold in the open end of thepacket on that side of the packet remote from the extended portion ofthe strip and thereafter folding the strip against the batch and overthe said narrow end fold to retain the latter in position.

3. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides ofa batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such length as to extendbeyond thethird side of the batch, of means for inserting the batch andpartially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block endedpacket with the extended portion of the strip protruding from thepacket, means for forming a narrow end fold in the open end of thepacket on that side of the packet remote from the extended portion ofthe strip and thereafter folding the strip against the batch and overthe said narrowl end fold to retain the latter in position, and meansfor thereafter forming the longer end folds in the open end of thepacket, whereby the strip will lie between the short and the longer endfolds.

4. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides ofa batch of cigarettes, said strip being of a length substantially thatof all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the thirdside of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partiallyencompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet withthe extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, and meansfor forming a narrow end fold in the open end of the packet on that sideof the packet remote from the extended portion of the strip andthereafter folding the strip against the batch and over the said narrowend fold to retain the latter in position.

5. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides ofya batch of cigarettes, said strip beingof a length substantially thatof all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the thirdside of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partiallyencompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet withthe extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, means forfeeding the packet and batch through a predetermined path with the thirdside of the batch facing forwardly, devices located adjacent the saidpath for folding the extended end of the strip against the batch, andmeans for forming a narrow end fold in the packet between the strip andthe batch.

6. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forfolding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides ofa batch of cigarettes, said strip being of a length substantially thatof all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the thirdside of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partiallyencompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet withthe extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, means forfeeding the packet and batch through a predetermined path with the thirdside of the batch facing forwardly, devices located adjacent the saidpath for folding the extended end of the strip against the batch, andmeans for forming a narrow end fold in the packet between the strip andthe batch, saidlast named means comprising an oscillating folder,movable to form the narrow end fold immediately prior to the folding ofthe extended end of the strip.

'7. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means forforming a U shaped block ended packet having side folds and an open end,said packet being slit to form a substantially rectangular tongueconstituting an extension of one of the narrow long sides of the packet,of means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about threenarrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such lengthas to extend beyond the third side of the batch, means for inserting thebatch and partially encompassing strip into the packet with the extendedportion of the strip protruding from the packet on that side of thepacket remote from the said tongue, means for folding the tongue againstthe batch, and means for thereafter folding the extended portion of thestrip against the batch and the tongue and for forming the longer endfolds over the strip.

JOHN WALKER CHALMERS.

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